lowrider Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 The how to of living in a motor home. What would be the typical do's and don't. $400 dollars for a park site vs. $1200 for an apartment. What to do with 5 pr. of skis and 2 snowboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMC Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 The how to of living in a motor home. What would be the typical do's and don't. $400 dollars for a park site vs. $1200 for an apartment. What to do with 5 pr. of skis and 2 snowboards. The answer is quite simple. Use the skis to make an outside bench. Put the boards under your bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted May 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 Under the bed would be on the drivers seat and engine. Any other suggestions ? The outside bench is noteworthy however the intention is to continue using the skis next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monodude Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 My wife and I have been living in a 35' Greyhound bus for 10 years now. I had to build a shed for the toys. GoldWing, ski/board gear etc... Besides getting used to the tiny (240 sq ft) winter is the biggest issue. Most trailers, coaches etc... are not built for winter use. I came up with a novel idea that keeps our water flowing. If there is a lot of windows the heating cost goes through the roof. This past Dec-Feb cost us around $1200 in just propane. If the power goes out that's a whole nother issue. Then you need a generator. One plus, with a motorhome, is if you want to go somewhere you have your house. There are a few things to consider... You need LOTS of storage space. Cabinets, "under" storage. size of tanks for "boondocking" I reccomend 150 fresh water, 100 grey, 50 black. We can do well for 6 to 8 days on fresh and grey, and three weeks on the black. There is so much to consider I could go on but this should help get you thinking.. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Job Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 My wife and I have been living in a 35' Greyhound bus for 10 years now. I had to build a shed for the toys. GoldWing, ski/board gear etc...Besides getting used to the tiny (240 sq ft) winter is the biggest issue. Most trailers, coaches etc... are not built for winter use. I came up with a novel idea that keeps our water flowing. If there is a lot of windows the heating cost goes through the roof. This past Dec-Feb cost us around $1200 in just propane. If the power goes out that's a whole nother issue. Then you need a generator. One plus, with a motorhome, is if you want to go somewhere you have your house. There are a few things to consider... You need LOTS of storage space. Cabinets, "under" storage. size of tanks for "boondocking" I reccomend 150 fresh water, 100 grey, 50 black. We can do well for 6 to 8 days on fresh and grey, and three weeks on the black. There is so much to consider I could go on but this should help get you thinking.. Don http://loffee.com/2013/06/24/diy-greyhound-bus-to-rv-conversion-12-pictures/ This is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Interesting topic! As an architect that is building a few full metal houses, I understand some of the issues working on a bus with smaller space.. - thermal bridges fighting: this is the most difficult part working with metal..as you can see on the bus on the link, there are many beams and other structural devices that use the whole thickness of the wall making it difficult to kill the bridges. Its a good idea to use a secondary structure on the inside, tied to the first one via non thermal conductive spacers ( plastic...) in order to reduce the losses to minimum. Cross layers of insulation in the secondary structure will help killing most bridges. - moisture fighting: gore tex like skin that the wood houses or normal buildings have ( vapor control) is difficult because metal skins are tight and riveted: need very good ventilation device..heat recovery ventilation systems with exchangers are a good solution, especially when you can add new air on bottom and pull old air in the roof area ( needs many ducts, not easy to design in small dimensions without noise). - thermal insulation: the easiest and best efficient way is projected PU like materials such as Icynene ( this one has no solvents released after it dries in 6 seconds). It acts as a vapor controler, air tightener and enters all small holes there is making great insulation, however it is very light an has almost no inertia...this means the summer comfort is going to be poor. If space allows it it is interesting to combine it with heavy insulation such as woodwools panels. U need good R value, but also weight! Roof insulation should be better than walls ( 27-28% of heating losses are through the roof).. - Windows: double glazed are very efficient, windshield will not be able to have it of course ( maybe a thermal removable screen layer for the coldest days)...others should have the max possible efficiency ( argon gaz etc..). thermal bridges between frame and walls are essential too. too many things to list! good luck! N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrest Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 I just did 9 months in a 8x16 trailer. Mine is a converted utility which is insulated to beat the band. Generally only needed heat below freezing if there was sunshine. Look into tiny house trailers. Many of them a built under 200 sqf and can be designed to be quite useful. I would suggest that you should spend a great deal of time identifying what you will actually want as its easy to set things up in the beginning, not so easy once its all together and you underway if you plan on traveling with it. If you do a trailer get a diesel truck. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.